{"product_id":"book-d8rm","title":"Gertrude and Claudius","description":"\u003cp\u003eGertrude and Claudius are the “villains” of \u003ci\u003eHamlet:\u003c\/i\u003e he the killer of Hamlet’s father and usurper of the Danish throne; she his lusty consort, who marries Claudius before her late husband’s body is cold. But in this imaginative “prequel” to the play, John Updike makes a case for the royal couple that Shakespeare only hinted at. Gertrude and Claudius are seen afresh against a background of fond intentions and family dysfunction, on a stage darkened by the ominous shadow of a sullen, erratic, disaffected prince. “I hoped to keep the texture light,” Updike said of this novel, “to move from the mists of Scandinavian legend into the daylight atmosphere of the Globe. I sought to narrate the romance that preceded the tragedy.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49328447357232,"sku":"BDd8rm","price":17.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/411387-d8rm-Square.jpg?v=1733719042","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-d8rm","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}